Indiana — Leave Laws

Indiana has not enacted a state-funded paid family and medical leave program. Employees in Indiana rely on the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which provides eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for qualifying family and medical reasons. Indiana state employees follow the federal FMLA framework administered through the Indiana State Personnel Department.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor — Family and Medical Leave Act | Indiana State Personnel Department — Family & Medical Leave

Indiana law prohibits employers from subjecting employees to adverse employment action because the employee received a jury summons, responded to a summons, or served on a jury. Violations constitute a Class B misdemeanor. Employers must provide unpaid leave for the duration of jury service; no state law requires paid leave.

Statutory protection against adverse employment action (Ind. Code § 33-28-5-24.3). If an employee (1) is summoned to serve as a juror, and (2) notifies the employer of the jury summons within a reasonable period after receiving the summons and before appearing for jury service, the employer may not subject the employee to any adverse employment action as the result of the employee's jury service. "Adverse employment action" includes discharge, demotion, discipline, loss of benefits, threats of discharge or other adverse action, or any other retaliatory measure taken because the employee received or responded to a summons, served as a juror, or attended court for prospective jury service.

Prohibition on forced use of paid leave (Ind. Code § 33-28-5-24.3(b)). An employee may not be required or requested to use annual leave, vacation leave, or sick leave for time spent (1) responding to a summons for jury service, (2) participating in the jury selection process, or (3) serving on a jury. This prohibition does not require an employer to provide annual vacation or sick leave to an employee who is not otherwise entitled to these benefits. The statute protects the employee's discretion to preserve accrued paid time off rather than applying it to jury-service absences at the employer's direction.

Small employer exception (Ind. Code § 33-28-5-24.3(c)). If (1) a prospective juror works for an employer with not more than ten (10) full-time employees (or their equivalent), (2) another employee of that employer is performing jury service, and (3) the prospective juror or the person performing jury service notifies the court that they both work for the same employer, the court shall reschedule the prospective juror's jury service for a date that does not overlap with the jury service of the other employee. This provision prevents undue hardship on very small employers when simultaneous service would leave the business understaffed. The protection operates through court rescheduling; employers do not invoke it directly, but employees may notify the court of the overlap.

Criminal penalty for employer interference (Ind. Code § 35-44.1-2-11). A person who knowingly or intentionally (1) dismisses an employee, (2) deprives an employee of employment benefits, or (3) threatens such dismissal or deprivation, because the employee has received or responded to a summons, served as a juror, or attended court for prospective jury service, commits interference with jury service, a Class B misdemeanor. Under Indiana's criminal sentencing framework, a Class B misdemeanor is punishable by up to 180 days' imprisonment and a fine of up to $1,000. The criminal penalty applies to natural persons (individual managers or business owners) who take the prohibited action; corporate employers are subject to the anti-retaliation prohibition under § 33-28-5-24.3 and may face civil liability for wrongful termination or breach of the statutory duty.

No requirement for paid leave. Indiana statutes do not require employers to pay employees for time spent on jury service. The leave is unpaid unless the employee elects to use accrued paid time off (which the employer may not compel) or the employer voluntarily maintains the employee's pay during service.

Coordination with federal law. The federal Jury Systems Improvement Act (28 U.S.C. § 1875) prohibits discharge, intimidation, or coercion of permanent employees by reason of federal jury service. Indiana's statute (IC 33-28-5-24.3) applies to both state and federal jury service within Indiana and provides parallel protection. Employees summoned for federal jury duty in Indiana district courts enjoy protection under both the federal statute and Indiana Code § 33-28-5-24.3.

Source: Ind. Code § 33-28-5-24.3 (adverse employment action as the result of jury service) Source: Ind. Code § 35-44.1-2-11 (interference with jury service — criminal penalty)

Indiana law provides paid leave for bone marrow and organ donation, but the statutory entitlement applies only to state employees of the executive branch. Private-sector employers and local government employers in Indiana have no statutory obligation to provide donor leave.

Bone marrow donation leave (Ind. Code § 4-15-16-7). A state employee may request up to five (5) work days of paid leave to serve as a bone marrow donor. The leave is granted upon verification by the attending physician that the employee will serve as a donor. The state agency must grant the leave during the period determined by the attending physician.

Organ donation leave (Ind. Code § 4-15-16-8). A state employee may request up to thirty (30) work days of paid leave to serve as a human organ donor. The leave is granted upon verification by the attending physician, and the agency grants the leave for the duration determined by the physician, not to exceed 30 work days.

Scope limitation. Indiana Code Title 4, Article 15 governs state personnel administration. The bone marrow and organ donation leave provisions in Chapter 16 of that article apply exclusively to employees of Indiana state agencies. No parallel Indiana statute extends this benefit to private employers or to employees of counties, municipalities, school corporations, or other local units of government. Private employers in Indiana may voluntarily offer donor leave as a benefit, but state law does not compel it.

Federal employees. Federal employees working in Indiana are covered by the federal organ and bone marrow donor leave statute, 5 U.S.C. § 6327, which provides up to 30 days of paid leave for organ donation and up to 7 days for bone marrow donation. That federal entitlement is independent of Indiana state law.

For practitioners advising private-sector Indiana employers, the absence of a state-law mandate means donor leave is a matter of employer policy. Multi-state employers should confirm whether employees working in Indiana but employed by entities in states with broader donor-leave statutes (such as Illinois, which covers private employers with 15+ employees under 820 ILCS 149) may have coverage under the other state's law depending on work location and choice-of-law rules.

Source: Ind. Code § 4-15-16-7 (bone marrow donation leave) Source: Ind. Code § 4-15-16-8 (organ donation leave)

Indiana Code § 22-2-20, enacted by Senate Enrolled Act 409 in April 2025 and effective July 1, 2025, prohibits employers from taking adverse employment action against an employee who is absent from work to attend either (1) an attendance conference concerning the employee's child under IC 20-33-2.5 (a school conference addressing chronic absenteeism or truancy), or (2) a case conference committee meeting under IC 20-35-9-3 (an IEP or special-education eligibility meeting for a child with disabilities). The statute applies to all Indiana employers—private businesses, state agencies, and local governments—and covers all employees regardless of tenure, hours worked, or employer size.

Covered children and meetings. The leave applies to an employee's biological, adopted, foster, or stepchild. The two protected meeting types are:

• Attendance conference (IC 20-33-2.5): A conference held by the school to address a student's excessive absences under Indiana's chronic-absenteeism and truancy-prevention framework.
• Case conference committee meeting (IC 20-35-9-3): A meeting to determine a student's eligibility for special education and related services, develop or revise an Individualized Education Program (IEP), or determine an appropriate educational placement for a student with disabilities.

One meeting per calendar year. An employee is entitled to protection for one qualifying conference or meeting per calendar year. If the employee attends more than one such meeting in a calendar year, the employer may take adverse action for subsequent absences without violating the statute.

Five-day advance notice. The employee must provide the employer with at least five calendar days' advance notice of the meeting. Failure to provide this notice removes the statutory protection.

Duration limited to reasonably necessary time. The absence must be limited to the time reasonably necessary to attend the conference or meeting, including reasonable travel time to and from the school. An absence exceeding what is reasonably necessary is not protected.

Reasonable effort to schedule virtual meeting. The employee must make a reasonable effort to schedule the conference or meeting as a virtual (electronic) meeting. This requirement does not eliminate the entitlement if the school declines or does not offer virtual attendance, but employees are expected to request a virtual option when feasible.

Documentation. An employer may require the employee to provide documentation that the employee attended the conference or meeting. Either the employee or the employer may request such documentation from the school.

Unpaid leave. IC 22-2-20 does not require employers to pay employees for time taken under this entitlement. The leave is job-protected and unpaid unless the employee elects to use accrued paid time off (vacation, personal leave, or compensatory time).

Prohibition on adverse action. Employers may not discharge, discipline, threaten, demote, or otherwise take adverse employment action against an employee for an absence that complies with the statute's notice, frequency, duration, and virtual-effort requirements. Retaliation for a protected absence violates IC 22-2-20.

Enforcement and remedies. Indiana Code § 22-2-20 does not specify a private right of action, administrative enforcement mechanism, or statutory penalty for employer violations. The statute prohibits adverse employment action but is silent on remedies. Employees who suffer retaliation for taking protected school conference leave may pursue relief under Indiana common-law wrongful termination principles (for at-will employees terminated in violation of a clear public policy expressed in statute), breach of contract (for employees with written employment agreements), or potentially under Indiana's general civil-rights enforcement framework if the retaliation also implicates a protected characteristic. The absence of an express statutory remedy distinguishes IC 22-2-20 from other Indiana leave statutes that include explicit enforcement provisions—for example, the Military Family Leave Act (IC 22-2-13-15, -16) authorizes employees to bring civil actions and obtain injunctions and equitable relief. Practitioners advising employees who have been disciplined or discharged for taking protected school conference leave should evaluate whether the employee has other grounds for relief beyond the bare statutory prohibition.

Sunset provision. Senate Enrolled Act 409 includes a sunset clause: IC 22-2-20 expires July 1, 2029, unless the Indiana General Assembly extends it before that date.

FMLA overlap. Indiana employees may also have federal leave rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) if the child has a serious health condition qualifying under 29 U.S.C. § 2612(a)(1)(C) and the employee meets FMLA eligibility requirements (works for a covered employer with 50+ employees within 75 miles, has at least 12 months of service, and worked at least 1,250 hours in the prior 12 months). A 2019 U.S. Department of Labor opinion letter stated that attending an IEP meeting or similar special-education conference under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act can qualify as caring for a child with a serious health condition if clinical providers participate and the meeting is necessary to arrange appropriate physical or psychological care. IC 22-2-20 provides broader coverage than FMLA—no serious-health-condition requirement, no employer-size or hours threshold, and no minimum service period—but is limited to one meeting per year and does not require paid leave.

Source: S.B. 409, 124th Gen. Assemb., Reg. Sess. (Ind. 2025)

Indiana's Military Family Leave Act (Ind. Code § 22-2-13) provides up to 10 workdays per calendar year of unpaid, job-protected leave for eligible employees whose family members are called to active duty in the U.S. armed forces or the Indiana National Guard. The statute became effective July 1, 2007.

Employer size threshold (Ind. Code § 22-2-13-1). The Act applies to all Indiana employers—private businesses, state agencies, and political subdivisions—that employ at least 50 employees for each working day during at least 20 calendar workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year. This threshold mirrors the federal FMLA employer-coverage test.

Employee eligibility (Ind. Code § 22-2-13-11(a)). An employee qualifies for military family leave if the employee meets all three requirements:

1. At least 12 months of service with the employer (need not be consecutive).
2. At least 1,500 hours worked during the 12-month period immediately preceding the day the leave begins.
3. Covered family relationship to a person ordered to active duty (see below).

Covered family relationships (Ind. Code §§ 22-2-13-2.5, -5, -9, -10). An employee is entitled to leave for each family member on active duty if the employee is the family member's:

• Spouse
• Parent (biological, adoptive, court-appointed guardian or custodian, foster, or step)
• Grandparent (biological, adoptive, foster, or step)
• Child (biological, adopted, foster, or step)
• Sibling (biological, adoptive, foster, or step)

Active duty definition (Ind. Code § 22-2-13-7). "Active duty" means full-time service on active duty orders in the U.S. armed forces (Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, or Merchant Marine active or reserve components) or the Indiana Army National Guard or Indiana Air National Guard for a period that exceeds 89 consecutive calendar days. Deployments of 89 days or fewer do not trigger statutory leave rights under this chapter.

Leave duration and timing (Ind. Code § 22-2-13-11(b)–(c)). An eligible employee may take up to a total of 10 workdays per calendar year. The leave may be taken during one or more of the following periods:

1. During the 30 days before active duty orders are in effect.
2. During a period in which the service member ordered to active duty is on leave while active duty orders are in effect (i.e., the service member's mid-deployment leave).
3. During the 30 days after the active duty orders are terminated.

The employee may split the 10 days across these periods or use all 10 days in a single block. An employee is entitled to a separate 10-day allotment for each family member on active duty, so if two siblings deploy simultaneously, the employee may take 10 days for each sibling.

Notice and verification (Ind. Code § 22-2-13-12). The employee must provide written notice to the employer of the date the leave will begin, including a copy of the active duty orders if available. The employee must give at least 30 days' advance notice unless the active duty orders are issued less than 30 days before the requested leave start date. Employers may require verification of the employee's eligibility for leave; if the employee fails to provide required verification, the employer may treat the absence as unexcused.

Use of paid leave (Ind. Code § 22-2-13-11(d)). Military family leave is unpaid. However, the employee may elect—or the employer may require the employee—to substitute any accrued paid vacation, personal leave, or other paid leave (except paid medical or sick leave) for any part of the 10-day period. Days of paid leave substituted in this manner count toward the 10-day statutory total.

Health benefits continuation (Ind. Code § 22-2-13-14). An employer must permit an employee taking military family leave to continue the employee's health care benefits (medical, prescription drug, vision, medical savings accounts, or other health-related coverage) at the employee's expense during the leave period.

Reinstatement and job protection (Ind. Code § 22-2-13-13). Upon return from military family leave, an employee is entitled to be restored to the same or an equivalent position. The employer may defeat reinstatement only by proving that the reason for not restoring the employee is unrelated to the employee's exercise of rights under the Act.

Employer interference prohibited; enforcement (Ind. Code §§ 22-2-13-15, -16). Employers may not interfere with, restrain, or deny any right provided by the Act. Employees may bring a civil action in circuit court to enforce the statute; courts may issue injunctions and order equitable relief to redress violations.

Federal FMLA overlay. Indiana employees covered by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (29 U.S.C. § 2612) may also have federal military-family leave rights under the "qualifying exigency" provisions (up to 12 weeks of leave for specified exigencies arising from a covered military member's active duty or call to active duty in support of a contingency operation). Indiana's 10-day statute provides a state-law floor for smaller employers (those with 50+ employees but not meeting FMLA's other coverage criteria) and uses a lower hours threshold (1,500 vs. FMLA's 1,250) and broader family relationships (grandparents and siblings are covered under Indiana law but not under federal FMLA qualifying-exigency leave). Employees entitled to both may use the most favorable provisions of each law.

Source: Ind. Code Title 22, Art. 2, Ch. 13 (Military Family Leave)

Indiana law prohibits employers from disciplining employees who are volunteer firefighters or volunteer members of emergency medical services (EMS) associations when they respond to emergency calls during work hours, subject to specific notice, authorization, and documentation requirements. The protection varies by employer type: state employees are covered under Ind. Code § 4-15-10-7, political subdivision employees under § 36-8-12-10.5, and private-sector employees under § 36-8-12-10.7. The statutes use parallel frameworks with minor variations.

Covered employees and required notice. The protections apply to employees who are (1) volunteer firefighters under Ind. Code § 36-8-12-2 or volunteer members of an emergency medical services association, and (2) have notified their employer (or immediate supervisor for state employees) in writing that they hold this volunteer status. The written notification is a prerequisite to protection. For private employers, a "volunteer member" means a volunteer member of an emergency medical services association organized to provide emergency medical services.

Protected absences — before-shift emergencies. An employer may not discipline an employee for being absent from employment by reason of responding to a fire or emergency call that was received before the time that the employee was to report to employment. This provision protects employees who are late to work or miss a shift entirely because they were responding to an emergency call that came in before their scheduled start time.

Protected absences — during-shift emergencies with supervisor authorization. An employer may not discipline an employee for leaving the employee's duty station to respond to a fire or emergency call if the employee has secured authorization from the employee's supervisor to leave the duty station in response to a fire or emergency call received after the employee has reported to work. This protection applies only when the employee obtains permission before leaving. For state employees, the authorization must come from the "immediate supervisor." Private and political subdivision employers have discretion to grant or deny mid-shift departure requests; the statute does not compel release, only non-discipline for approved absences.

Protected absences — injury recovery. Under the private-employer and political-subdivision statutes (§§ 36-8-12-10.7 and 10.5), an employer may not discipline an employee for being absent from work for a period not exceeding six (6) months from the date of an injury sustained while engaged in emergency firefighting or other emergency response activity. This injury-recovery protection applies only to injuries occurring during the employee's volunteer emergency response duties. The state-employee statute (§ 4-15-10-7) addresses injury leave separately by requiring the Indiana State Personnel Department to administer such absences in a manner consistent with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq.), as amended and in effect on January 1, 2009.

Employer verification rights. Employers may require employees who have been absent under these provisions to present:

• A written statement from the fire chief or other officer in charge of the volunteer fire department, or the officer in charge of the emergency medical services association, indicating that the employee was engaged in emergency firefighting or emergency activity at the time of the absence or injury.
• For injury-related absences, evidence from a physician or other medical authority showing (a) treatment for the injury at the time of the absence, and (b) a connection between the injury and the employee's emergency firefighting or other emergency response activities.

Medical information obtained under these verification provisions must be retained in a separate medical file for the employee, to the extent required by federal or state law.

Essential-employee exception (private employers only). Ind. Code § 36-8-12-10.7(c) permits private employers to reject an employee's written volunteer-firefighter or volunteer-member notification on the grounds that the employee is an essential employee to the employer. If the employer rejects the notification on this basis, the anti-discipline protections of subsection (b) do not apply to that employee. The employer must provide a written statement of the rejection to the employee. The statute does not define "essential employee"; employers exercise discretion in determining which positions qualify. State-employee and political-subdivision statutes do not include this essential-employee carve-out.

No compensation requirement. None of the three statutes require employers to pay employees for time spent responding to emergency calls. The leave is unpaid unless the employee elects to use accrued paid time off or the employer voluntarily pays.

Coordination with other leave laws. For state employees, injury-related absences must be administered consistently with FMLA. Employees eligible for FMLA (those who meet the employer-coverage, tenure, and hours-worked thresholds) may have overlapping entitlements. Indiana's emergency-responder leave protections do not depend on FMLA eligibility and therefore cover employees who work for smaller employers or have not met FMLA's 12-month service or 1,250-hour requirements.

Source: Ind. Code § 4-15-10-7 (state employees — volunteer firefighting activity) Source: Ind. Code § 36-8-12-10.5 (political subdivision employees — volunteer firefighting activity) Source: Ind. Code § 36-8-12-10.7 (private employers — volunteer firefighting or volunteer member activity)

Effective May 7, 2026, Indiana's New Parent Leave (NPL) benefit for executive-branch state employees incorporates significant clarifications and coverage expansion under the revised State Personnel Department (SPD) policy.

Annual Cap Still Applies Regardless of Number of Events Full-time employees remain eligible for up to 150 hours of paid NPL per calendar year (75 hours for part-time), regardless of the number of qualifying parenting events. The annual maximum is not multiplied based on multiple events within the same year—if an employee gives birth and adopts (including foster placement and subsequent adoption) in the same calendar year, the total maximum leave is still 150 hours for that year. Leave for a second, third, or subsequent event is limited to any unused balance remaining within that cap.

Qualifying Events: Added Clarity and Expansion The revised policy confirms that a qualifying event includes:

• The birth of a child.
• Placement of a child for adoption.
• Placement of a child for foster care (coverage explicitly added by the May 2026 update).
• Step-parent adoption does NOT constitute a new qualifying event if the child is already part of the employee's adoptive, foster, or biological family unit.

If multiple children are placed in a single adoption or foster care event (e.g., sibling group, twins), this is treated as a single qualifying event for the purpose of NPL—not multiple. Additionally, if an employee uses NPL for a child's foster placement, then subsequently adopts the same child, that subsequent adoption does not trigger a new NPL leave event—no additional leave is available unless unused hours from the first event remain. This rule applies only to sequential foster/adoption of the same child.

Intermittent Leave and Timing NPL may be used either as a single block or intermittently. All NPL hours associated with a qualifying event must be used within six months of birth, adoption, or foster placement. Unused balances expire after that window.

Summary of Material 2026 Policy Changes:

• Explicit inclusion of foster placement as a qualifying event (May 7, 2026).
• Clarifications to prevent stacking for sequential foster/adoption of the same child or for multiple births/placements.
• Step-parent adoptions do not generate a new event.
• Confirmed 150-hour annual maximum remains unchanged: cumulative, not per event.

Source: Indiana State Personnel Department – New Parent Leave policy (May 2026 revision) Source: SPD Additions to Your Family information page

Indiana law provides up to 15 days per year of military training leave for employees who are members of the Indiana National Guard or a reserve component of the U.S. Armed Forces. The main statutes are IC 10-17-4-4 (covering all employees for temporary military training), IC 10-16-7-5 (covering public-sector employees for training and active duty), and IC 10-16-7-6 (covering state active duty for National Guard members).

For public-sector employees (state, county, local): Indiana law and the Indiana State Personnel Department's policy require that military leave for covered training or duty be granted "without loss of time or pay and in addition to regular vacation" (IC 10-16-7-5). This means that such leave may not be charged against an employee’s vacation, PTO, or sick leave balances. The State Personnel Department’s policy affirms that these days are a separate legal entitlement for military service and are not deducted from other forms of accrued leave. Leave for state active duty under IC 10-16-7-6 is also required to be granted in addition to any regular vacation time.

For private-sector employees: IC 10-17-4-4 requires that employers provide leave for military training but gives the employer discretion to grant it with or without pay. However, the statute does not address whether an employer may require an employee to use accrued paid leave (PTO, vacation, or sick leave) for otherwise unpaid military leave. There is no language in the Indiana Code or in published agency guidance—nor any controlling Indiana case—explicitly addressing whether private-sector employers can require such substitution of paid leave days for military service absences. As of July 2026, this remains a statutory gap in Indiana law.

No direct Indiana precedent: No provision in IC 10-17-4-4, IC 10-16-7-5, IC 10-16-7-6, or official Indiana employment policy specifically allows or prohibits forced PTO/vacation use for military leave in the private sector. For state and local governmental employees, military leave cannot be offset against personal leave; for private employees, Indiana statutory authority is silent on mandatory PTO substitution.

Source: Ind. Code § 10-17-4-4 Source: Ind. Code § 10-16-7-5 Source: Indiana State Personnel Department – Military and Other Uniformed Services Leaves Policy (2023)